When the Lord descends to perform His pastimes, He is invariably
accompanied by His intimate associates and devotees. When Sri
Krishna came to perform His lila about 5000 years ago,
innumerable associates from both the material and the spiritual
world descended with Him to take this great opportunity to serve
Him. Similarly when Caitnaya Mahaprabhu, who is non-different
from Sri Krishna, came about 500 years ago, many of the same
associates came again to serve Him. Of these the most
confidential were collectively addressed as the Panca Tattva,
which in addition to Caitanya Mahaprabhu comprised of Nityanada
prabhu, Advaitacarya, Gadadhara Pandit and Srivasa Thakur.

The
Caitanya Caritamrta (Adi Lila 6) is entirely devoted to the
glories of Sri Advaita Acarya. He is the combined incarnation of
Maha Vishnu and Sadasiva. He is the cause of the advent of
Caitanya Mahaprabhu to this world, and as we will see later, the
cause of His departure too. Along with Nityananda prabhu, He is
Vishnu tattva, non-different from Sri Krishna and is worshippable
in that form.

Sri Advaita Acarya manifested as the child of Labhadevi and
Kuvera, in a village named Lauda, in present day Bangladesh, in
the year 1434. His father was a Brahman, expert in Vedic
scriptures and an advisor to the emperor of Sri-Hatta, King
Divyasimha. Previously Labhadevi and Kuvera and six sons, of
which four had taken sannyasa. The other two sons had become
householders, and their descendants are still there. Sri Advaita
Acarya was born after many auspicious dreams to mother Labhadevi,
indicating that the Supreme Lord was descending and the event was
awaited with much anticipation in the entire village.

Sri Advaita Acarya was named Kamalaksha (lotus eyed) at birth. He
was also named Advaita (meaning non-different from God). As a
child, He displayed many transcendental pastimes that bewildered
and also gratified His parents. He refused to drink His
mothers milk unless she chanted Hare Krishna loudly. He
also displayed the quick temper found in Lord Shiva. Once He grew
angry at the prince making fun of Vaishnava devotees. So
intimidating was His anger, that the prince, otherwise a brave
lad, fainted with fright. At another time He refused even the
Emperors order to bow to the deity of Mother Durga,
explaining and finally convincing him that devotion to Sri
Krishna surpasses all forms of demigod worship.

As
Sri Advaita Acarya grew, His knowledge of Vedic scriptures also
grew enormously. As a young boy He was awarded the prestigious
Veda-pancanana, an advanced degree in Vedic scriptures. As the
disciple of Santacarya, He was completely surrendered to the
instructions of His guru, even though He was far more advanced in
scriptures. When He reached His early teens, both His parents
passed away and Sri Advaita Acarya went on an extensive
pilgrimage across the country. While visiting the temples of
Udupi, He met Srila Madhavendra Puri, who would later be His
preceptor.

Sri Advaita Acarya quickly rose to the position of becoming a
leading Vaishnava of His time. On the instructions of the
Madan-Mohana deity, Who appeared to Him in a dream, He led a
number of Braja residents to the secret hiding place of the deity
and established a temple. Later when the Moslems again pillaged
the temple, He gave the deity to Purusottam Chaube, the same
Brahman who would later give the deity to Sanatana Goswami. He
was also instructed in a dream to establish deities to Srimati
Radha Rani and Madan Gopala, which He did in Santipur. It was at
this time that Srila Madhavendra Puri came and instructed Him on
the esoteric details of worship, chanting, and subsequently
initiated Him.

The decline of religiosity and the suffering of people all around
greatly perturbed Sri Advaita Acarya. In order to alleviate this,
He would fervently pray on the banks of the river Ganges,
offering flowers and tulasi leaves. Just as Sri Krishna says that
simple offering of flowers, leave, water etc. made with love and
devotion will satisfy Him, Sri Advaita Acarya pleased Sri Krishna
with His sincere devotion so as to descend as Caitanya
Mahaprabhu. Sri Advaita Acarya was in his fifties when Nimai was
born, but He always treated Nimai as the Supreme Personality of
Godhead, even when Nimai was playing His pastimes of being an
intellectual. Indeed He was the first to boldly proclaim that
Nimai was non-different from Sri Krishna, and first worshipped
young Nimai with the Krishna mantra (namo brahmanya devaya
go-brahmana-hitaya ca, jagad-hitaya Krsnaya, Govindaya namo
namah)

When Sri Advaita Acarya was in His fifties, He married Sitadevi,
and later her younger sister Sridevi. He did this on the
instructions of His spiritual master, so that there would be some
one to carry on the deity worship of Madana Gopala. He also
wanted to establish that spiritual progress can be made as a
householder. Of His six sons, He rejected three for deviating
into the mayavadi line. His eldest son, Acyutananda was to become
a prominent Vaishnava in pure devotional service and is later
said to have taken initiation from Gadadhara Pandit.

Even though Sri Advaita Acaryas mood towards Caitanya
Mahaprabhu was always one of servitude, Caitanya Mahaprabhu
always treated Him with deference and respect. In an effort to
get some real mercy of Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Sri Advaita Acarya
once started preaching mayavadi doctrines to His students. When
Caitanya Mahaprabhu heard of this, He rushed over to Sri Advaita
Acarya and asked Him three time what was better, knowledge or
devotional love. When Sri Advaita Acarya answered knowledge
(jana), Caitanya Mahaprabhu displaying a pastime of being
furious, kicked and pummeled Sri Advaita Acarya, much to His
delight and ecstasy. Later when all was settled, Sri Advaita
Acarya once again began teaching the principle of prema-bhakti
very nicely.

Sri Advaita Acarya is not only the efficient cause of the descent
of the Lord, but also of His disappearance. He sent a cryptic
message to Caitanya Mahaprabhu, rice is no longer needed in
the market place, since every one is mad like Caitanya Mahaprabhu
Himself. When Mahaprabhu received this message, He smiled
and soon after displayed His pastime of disappearing. Only a few
of the intimate associates understood that this message meant
that the yuga dharma of sankirtan had been sufficiently well
established now that it could be carried on by empowered
disciples.

Sri Advaita Acarya remained manifest on the earth for 125 years,
of which 25 were after the disappearance of Caitanya Mahaprabhu.
His mercy on the fallen souls of the Kali yuga knew no bounds, He
unveiled the Lords most esoteric and intimate lila for the
world and as an acarya, lived, taught and inspired the very same
instructions.